Inquiring Informationists: A Qualitative Exploration of Our Role

Abstract

Objective-The goal of this study is to explore the impact of an informationist program at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Library and to provide a basis for further program assessment. In 2001 the NIH Library began its informationist program, where librarians with training in both biomedicine and information science work alongside researchers. The goal of the program is to facilitate researchers' access to and usage of information resources.Methods-The researchers used qualitative interviews with key informants to characterize the current informationist services of user groups. Subjects were selected to capture a variety of activities that would show patterns of how the program assists the researchers of various NIH groups. Following the interviews, the authors extracted recurring and significant themes from the subjects' comments.Results-Interview subjects provided their views on the informationists' skills, impact, and team participation. Research results documented that informationists helped find resources, provided instruction, and worked as part of the research team. The NIH groups currently using this service value their informationists' knowledge of library resources and their ability to access information needs quickly. The informationists' skills in finding information save the researchers time, increase the efficiency of the research team, and complement the contributions of other team members. Training by informationists was found useful. Informationist services led to increased self-reported library use, albeit in some cases this use was entirely via the informationist.Conclusions-Informationists saved researchers time by obtaining requested information, finding esoteric or unfamiliar resources, and providing related training. These activities appeared to be facilitated by the acceptance of the informationist as part of the research team. This exploratory study provides background that should be useful in future, more extensive evaluations.

The Role of the Client in Informing Science:

“…Not surprisingly then, other disciplines are already pursuing means of how "informationists" can work in collaboration with practitioners (Robison, Ryan, and Cooper, 2009). Thus, IS must as well pursue not only the identification of clients but their different roles in IS.…”

Research Support in an Academic Medical Center

“…The vision was to train librarians with a background in biomedicine and information science to be able to work with biomedical researchers. 7 A reference librarian, research librarian, and informationist have many of the same job responsibilities in common. They all conduct some type of interview with their customers to elicit the information they are searching for; they must all determine what types of resources are necessary and available to find the information; and they must provide access to the needed information.…”

Experiences as an Embedded Librarian in Online Courses

“…The National Institutes of Health (NIH) offers one such training program, and a qualitative assessment of NIH trained informationists revealed those working closely with these professionals perceived numerous benefits from the collaboration. 13 Informationists reportedly provided relevant information in an efficient and timely manner, offered time savings for collaborators through their services, increased team members' knowledge of available information resources and how to use them, and functioned as valued team members. 13 It is in this same vein of providing expert, integrated assistance that academic librarians have found a place in the classroom as embedded librarians.…”

“…13 Informationists reportedly provided relevant information in an efficient and timely manner, offered time savings for collaborators through their services, increased team members' knowledge of available information resources and how to use them, and functioned as valued team members. 13 It is in this same vein of providing expert, integrated assistance that academic librarians have found a place in the classroom as embedded librarians. The phrase embedded librarian is most often used in reference to academic librarians who are acting as key collaborators by providing significant integrated support within courses where they are not the primary instructor.…”